Polygon and line clipping methods and algorithms are known in the field of computer graphics for accelerating the time taken to render a graphics image such as a map for display to a user. In addition to rendering features in the form of polygons and lines, labels are rendered for feature identification on images such as maps.
Known methods for placement of labels on images such as maps dynamically place labels on the screen, rendering the labels upon refresh of the screen. Thus, after user-panning, labels are rendered on the screen. Use of static labels in which labels are placed in the same location in relation to image features permits reuse of labels rendered in previous screens. While such methods are effective for rendering labels for features in different views of a map, they still require significant computational resources and time to render for each new frame. This is of particular concern in mobile devices where new and more powerful graphics applications are being deployed, and where computational resources and power usage are at a premium.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a method and system for rendering of labels that is quicker and less computationally intensive than previously known methods.